by Mohammed Suliman on Fri, 08/19/2011 – 07:19

According to the Palestine Papers, Saeb Erekat, the so-called chief Palestinian negotiator, once stated, “”If someone sneezes in Tel Aviv, I get the flu in Jericho.”

That was probably the only thing that makes sense Erekat ever said regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Except it wasn’t actually true, unless we think of Erekat, at the moment he made that statement, as every Palestinian in Gaza and replace “Jericho” with “Gaza”. So “if someone sneezes in Tel Aviv, Palestinians in Gaza were soon to be blame for it.”

Yesterday, as I woke up to the news of an attack that took place in Eilat, some 20 kilometeres south of Israel, the first thing that ever came to my mind was, “who the hell did it?”

Click here to continue reading “Blame the Gazans— Punish them” by Mohammed Suliman.

The Media Is the Enemy
Of peace, liberty, and the truth

by Justin Raimondo, August 17, 2011

Ron Paul is getting more publicity out of not getting publicity in the wake of his virtual tie with Bachmann in the Ames poll than he’s gotten to date. Suddenly everyone’s noticing the “mainstream” media is trying very hard not to notice the twelve-term Texas congressman and libertarian icon, despite his success in quadrupling his previous Iowa showing and barely being edged out by Bachmann. Jon Stewart’s takedown of the Ron Paul media blackout is devastating, and, for the most part, funny. Barring that crack about Paul being “the ‘Patient Zero’ of the Tea Party” – likening tea partiers to HIV-positives is offensive on so many levels, I don’t know where to start – Stewart’s critique of the anti-Paul bias in the mainstream media is 100 percent accurate. Roger Simon, writing in Politico, found it “amazing” and “disturbing” that “Paul almost wins the thing and he remains poison.”

To us long-time Paul-watchers, who have witnessed this media blackout in operation for years – and are way beyond being merely “disturbed” by it – there is nothing in the least bit amazing about the media’s hostility to Paul. The latest snub is merely a repetition of what has been the Party Line, a line that – like Paul himself – crosses ideological boundaries, and Stewart’s takedown – which spliced together footage of both CNN and Fox News anchors, wearing identical smirks, disdainfully dismissing Paul – showed this red media/blue media united front in action.

Click here to continue reading “The Media Is the Enemy” by Justin Raimondo.

By ROGER SIMON

I admit I do not fully understand Ron Paul and his beliefs. But I do understand when a guy gets shafted, and Ron Paul just got shafted.

On Saturday, the Ames Straw Poll was conducted in Iowa amid huge media interest and scrutiny. The results were enough to force one Republican candidate, Tim Pawlenty, out of the race, and catapult another, Michele Bachmann, into the “top tier.”

Click here to continue reading “Ron Paul remains media poison” by Roger Simon.

J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America among contributors to ‘Super Committee’ charged with deficit reduction

By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne

August 15, 2011

MapLight, which tracks donations to politicians, released on Friday an analysis of campaign contributions to the 12 members of Congress appointed to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. The list of contributors includes such heavy hitters as J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.

The members of the so-called “Super Committee” are Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Reps. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), and Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).

Click here to continue reading “Top 10 Industry Donors to Congressional Deficit Panel Members” by Melanie Waddell.

Related:
By Robert Greenwald and Derrick Crowe

The defense industry already has a head start: since 2007, the members of the new deficit committee have taken roughly $1 million in war industry contributions to their PACs and campaign committees. Here’s how much they’ve each taken, according to OpenSecrets.org:

• Patty Murray (D-Wash.): $276,200
• Max Baucus (D-Mont.): $139,100
• Dave Camp (R-Mich.): $130,800
• John Kerry (D-Mass.): $73,500
• Rob Portman (R-Ohio): $68,700
• Fred Upton (R-Mich.): $36,500
• Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.): $32,000
• Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas): $29,000
• Pat Toomey (R-Pa.): $17,100

Health Affairs Blog
August 13, 2011
Implementing Health Reform: Premium Tax Credits
By Timothy Jost

On August 12, the Departments of Health and Human Services and Treasury (Internal Revenue Service) issued three notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) as part of their continuing effort to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

This post will describe the Treasury NPRM, the shortest of the NPRMs but also the one that deals with the most complex and unsettled issues.

Continue reading →